


La Vie en Rose

by runesandrumors



Category: Cuphead (Video Game)
Genre: Fake Wedding AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23292223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runesandrumors/pseuds/runesandrumors
Summary: (Fake Wedding AU) When one of his “get-rich-quick” schemes fails, Cuphead is forced to stage a fake wedding with the help of his friends and some former debtors. Mugman, as usual, is dragged along.
Relationships: Cuphead/Mugman (Cuphead)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	La Vie en Rose

**Author's Note:**

> Since it’s taking a long time for me to get to the romance part in “OUaD”, I ended up writing this for fun. Got the idea from a Tumblr post that calls it the new fake dating au. 」(￣▽￣」)
> 
> This story assumes that the brothers were adults when they entered the casino. To be specific, Cuphead dragged Mugman in there right after they turned 21 and spent the day after their birthday battling debtors.
> 
> Also, every character mentioned below is found in the game. I checked the wiki for their canon names.
> 
> I’d apologize for the self-indulgence, but that’s what fanfiction is made for.

**_~_ ** **_დ_ ** **_~_ **

_Mr. Silverworth Platters_

_extends his warmest regards for the future_

_Mr. and Mrs. Coffeepot._

_He accepts your kind invitation_

_and looks forward to attending your wedding._

**_~_ ** **_დ_ ** **_~_ **

“A wedding? Who’s getting married?”

Hilda, as usual, is grumpy at being interrupted from her daily routine of rearranging Inkwell’s skies for the night. Mugman does his best to smile and appease her, knowing he stood a better chance at it than his brother (who’d ruined her sky garden one too many times to get away with it).

“Cuphead is.”

Hilda guffaws, her surprise causing a tiny _“Ha!”_ to fly out of her mouth and nearly hit them, “Him?! You’re telling me someone was desperate enough to handcuff themself to this little crumb for the rest of their life?”

Cuphead holds his fist up indignantly, “Hey! I’ll have you know I’m a real catch!”

Hilda ignores him, turning her attention back to Mugman, “You must be joking.”

“I wish I was,” Mugman mutters to himself before beaming back at Hilda, “Nope! He’s on his way to the altar!”

Snorting, Hilda leans back against the cloud she’s seated on, “So who’s the unlucky dame?”

“We...uh…. We haven’t thought of that yet.”

“...What?”

Cuphead sighs, “Okay, we’re gonna level with you. I may have committed a big mistake-”

“Well that doesn’t surprise me.”

“ _-and_ we need your help to plan a wedding and hopefully fix it.” 

“What kind of trouble did you get yourself into that requires a whole _wedding_ to fix?”

“I sent Silverworth a fake wedding invitation in the hopes that he’d send me an expensive wedding gift with an excuse of why he couldn’t show up,” Cuphead recites, his voice set in a falsely chipper tone that lets Hilda know he’d clearly rehearsed this before they came, “Heard he did it for one of my friends at their wedding, and I figured a guy like him with no time and plenty money could do the same for me. Honest mistake. Who knew he’d be so interested in a couple of commoners’ wedding party?” He ends with a shrug and bats his lashes at her.

Hilda crosses her arms, “I hope you know there’s no chance I’m agreeing to play your fake bride.”

“Oh God no,” Cuphead recoils at the heated glare Hilda sends him after his exclamation, “Er, not that you wouldn’t be a real hoot to have as a wife, but I don’t think anyone would believe me if I said I was marrying someone as stellar as you, Ms. Hilda,” he soothes. 

Hilda preens, her cloud purring along at her pleasure, “Darn right.”

Mugman is silently impressed at the save.

“So,” Cuphead starts, hoping to take advantage of her improved mood, “Would you mind helping us plan the wedding? See, it’s gotta be one grand affair, a real hotsy-totsy show if I wanna impress Silverworth and convince him I actually know the guy. And if there’s anyone here who has high taste, it’s you, no contest! What do you say?”

.

.

.

After a little discussion with Hilda, the brothers draw up a list of things needed for the fake wedding. Thankfully, most of them could be found with the debtors… if they were feeling charitable.

“It’s fine, Mugs. You know they still owe us for saving their souls, right? We’ll use that, or flatter them just like I did with Hilda!”

“I am not a fan of all this blackmail going on.”

“Necessary consequences,” Cuphead nods to himself.

“Why don’t you just send him the cash back and tell him it was a mistake? Maybe come up with a story about how your future bride ran off to another isle and left you with a broken heart. It’d be a lot easier than staging a wedding!”

Cuphead flinches and his eyes immediately flit to the side.

Mugman knows that look.

“What did you do with the money, Cuphead?”

His brother starts whistling nervously.

Mugman decides that he’d rather not hear the answer.

.

.

.

Over at Cagney’s place, the brothers are surprised when he easily agrees to lend them his garden for the venue and provide them with some bouquets.

“Why, consider it a gift for all of your help!” Cagney chirps, pleasantly sweet now that they aren’t fighting for their lives. 

Like him, most of the people they ask are eager to help. Food and drinks are promised by The Root Pack, along with plenty of alcohol from Ribby and Croaks. Grim is ecstatic to share his fire, smitten at the thought of a wedding (even if they kept telling him it was fake). The Baroness also agrees to lend them her castle and bake them a wedding cake.

“My darling Creampup needs to stretch his legs anyway. I’m sure he’ll love the chance to finally visit another isle, and wear some brand new buttercream on top of that!” Bon Bon coos, stroking her castle’s gingerbread brow. Creampup seems to purr under her touch, and nods eagerly along with his mistress, “As for the cake, consider it a gift for saving my soul. It’ll be fun to make something other than these carnival treats for once!”

Even the ones who weren’t debtors join in. The Barbershop Quartet agrees to lend their singing voices, accompanied by both Ludwig and Wolfgang (who were both just eager to outdo the other again). 

Filled with warmth at everyone’s kindness, the brothers find themselves secretly looking forward to the wedding, which promised to be nothing short of another wonderful party.

.

.

.

They’re at the last stop of the day, asking Sally for help with a fake pastor and costumes, when the actress brings up an important question again.

“So who exactly are you marrying, Cuphead?” 

Oh. They had completely forgotten about that.

Sally sees the look on their faces and laughs, “Oh, the naivety of youth. You can’t have a wedding without a couple to be wed, boys. That’s the whole point!”

“It just slipped my mind,” Cuphead defends weakly.

“So you don’t have a girlfriend?”

“No, he doesn’t,” Mugman answers before his brother can stutter out a lie and make this any longer.

Sally wraps a hand around her chin and purses her lips in thought, “Hmm, let’s see. Have you met Silverworth before, Cuphead?”

“Once. Barely.”

“You were alone?”

“I think so. Mugman was still washing up after we dealt with Cala Maria.”

“Perfect!” The brothers jump, startled when Sally claps her hands together, “Then we have ourselves a bride!”

“M-me?!” Mugman points to himself, gobsmacked. Sally nods.

“You want to trick Silverworth into thinking you’re in love, don’t you? That’s going to be hard to do if you drag just any poor schmuck into this with less than four days to prepare! This way, you won’t have to hunt down a gal, and we’ll get to start practicing your moves right away!”

“But Mugman’s not a girl,” says Cuphead, still looking befuddled by the idea.

Sally waves a hand dismissively, “Please, you’re speaking to a professional. As the radiant star of the stage- its majestic sun, if you may- I have the power to shed light on even the darkest shadows. Turn even the ugliest troll into a resplendent goddess. Polish the most common dinnerware into the finest china!”

“Should I be offended by that?”

“Behold!” Sally lifts up her hands, just as a cane appears out of nowhere and drags Mugman backstage. He yelps, the sound muffled once he is hidden behind the curtains. 

After a few moments, he is spat back out in front of Sally and his brother, now decked in the same wedding dress Sally had worn when they first fought her. Unfortunately, it seems they’d made no effort to adjust the dress, so it just hangs loosely off him in an unflattering way.

Everyone winces, “Okay, no. Someone is getting fired for this awful display!” Sally yells, the curtains giving a visible shiver at her tone. With a huff, she conjures a measuring tape and drapes it around Mugman’s waist, “Hmph. Never let a novice do an expert’s job. Not to worry. I’ll have you looking almost as good as me just in time for your big day!”

.

.

.

Back at their house, Cuphead finally breaches the subject.

“You don’t have to do it, you know. You’ve helped me enough.”

Mugman pauses and fidgets with his hands. Brows furrowed in concern, Cuphead tries to reach over and take his hand but Mugman simply backs away and shakes his head.

“It’s fine. Ms. Sally has a point,” Mugman smiles weakly at him, “Besides, it’s just for a few hours. I’m sure I can pretend to love you for that amount of time.”

Cuphead throws a soft punch at his arm and grins when he hears Mugman giggle, “I’ve been pretending to love you for as long as you’ve been born. It’s about time you returned the gesture!”

Mugman throws one of the couch pillows at him and laughs, dodging when Cuphead whips it right back at him. They continue their play-fight all the way up the stairs, separated only when sleep finally beckons them into their bedrooms.

Settled in the comfort of his bed, Cuphead idly wishes they still slept in the same room.

.

.

.

It’s time.

By some miracle, everything is going according to plan. Whippet Creampup settles himself in the middle of Cagney’s garden, proudly wearing a fresh coat of white buttercream and pale blue frosting to match the towering wedding cake the Baroness had baked. Some of her servants flutter around him, adding little edible beads and flowers on his trim, while the rest help set up the makeshift chapel inside.

Cagney chooses large, fragrant, white magnolias for the decor- a flower of nobility, he’d explained. Hopefully Silverworth knew stuff like that and was as doubly impressed as Cuphead. He tries asking Cagney what the other flowers mean (pale pink peonies and soft blue lavenders) but he simply chuckles, mouth hidden behind his leaf, and winks at Cuphead.

Hilda puts the finishing touches on a massive cloud sculpture behind the altar- a depiction of a nameless god and goddess with their hands intertwined, faces pressed close together in private, loving bliss. Along the walls, she had also hung cloud cherubs, each one frozen in a playful pose. Stars light the inside of the room, shining, dimming, and shifting colors at her command.

Ribby and Croaks are helping Grim and the Root Pack with cooking. They’d finished setting up the bar earlier, intent on spending the rest of their time drinking before the wedding, but Hilda had quickly put a stop to that and dragged them over to the kitchen to assist. Like most people on Isle One, both brothers have a healthy sense of fear when it comes to her and silently obey.

Though they hadn’t needed help from all the debtors, Cuphead and Mugman had both agreed to invite everyone out of affection (and to help fill up the seats). Their friends were also invited to help the ruse. None of them had sounded surprised when they were told what Cuphead had done and why this needed to happen.

(Guiltily, he figures that’s a sign his behavior might be getting out of hand.)

“What’s with the cloudy look on your face? Shouldn’t the groom be happier today?” Someone claps Cuphead on the back, drawing him out of his thoughts. He looks up to see Sally’s husband smiling down at him, a perfect picture of paternal warmth. It’s no wonder Sally had volunteered him to act as Cuphead’s best man. He needed all the help he could get up here.

“Nah. Everything’s going great. Though if Mugman were here, he’d probably say it’s a little _too_ great,” Cuphead smiles, “He was always way more careful than I am. I ought to learn more from him.”

“Funny. Sally tells me he said the same thing about you,” Cuphead looks up in surprise, “He admires your bravery and sense of adventure, not so much your recklessness. Says even though it lands you in trouble, you never fail to bring him excitement. You two complement each other well.”

Cuphead finds himself flushing a soft red. Ever since their deal with the Devil, he’d been determined to avoid dragging Mugman into another one of his schemes. This had been an exception. There was no way he could hide an entire _wedding_ from him.

Privately, he’s relieved to know that he doesn’t hate him.

“Oh? Look alive, young man. It seems your guest of honor has finally arrived.”

Cuphead peeks around the side of the wall, and sucks in a breath at the sight of Silverworth entering the hall. A lady with a spoon for a head is wrapped around his arm, likely his date for the night. Thankfully, everything has already been set up and the castle is more than ready to host a wedding.

Yesterday, the brothers spent most of their time practicing their lines together, reciting their vows and learning to dance and act like a couple. Mugman hadn’t complained, even as Sally asked them to draw close, hold each other and whisper sugar-sweet lines without stuttering. Of course, they’d both found themselves blushing horribly, but Sally had said that it would only make the illusion stronger.

(“Just don’t break eye contact or he’ll definitely know you’re faking it!”)

The stress of keeping everything in order had kept Cuphead’s anxiety at bay, but now there is nothing left to distract him from the moment. 

He’s about to fake marry Mugman.

One of Sally’s assistants comes up behind them and clears her throat, “Excuse me, sirs? Ms. Sally says they’re ready to begin. Do we still need to wait, or…?” 

Mr. Stageplay shakes his head, “No, I do believe we have everything we need. Shall we?”

Cuphead gulps, “It’s now or never.”

.

.

.

At Hilda’s signal, slow piano tunes come from Ludwig, soon followed by violins from Wolfgang as they play [Canon in D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptk_1Dc2iPY). The stars in the room glow a soothing yellow, their light caught prettily in the flowers and clouds that decorate the room. 

Cuphead walks in first, emboldened by the stunning fit of the pure black tuxedo Sally had put him in. He’s never worn anything as formal as this before, and he’s shocked at how amazing it feels to be in it. Contrary to the stuffy nature he’d always associated with suits, wearing the tux made him feel freer than ever- a kind of freedom known only to the gloriously powerful and wealthy. The red carpet he follows down the aisle only seems to help, and he struggles to keep his ego from making him do something stupid again.

_‘God, no wonder Silverworth always acts like he’s so full of himself.’_

As soon as he arrives at the altar, he’s followed by Sally’s husband and two other groomsmen, his friends Mac and Chip. With respect to his role as the groom, their suits are less complex-- a black vest and tie over a long-sleeved white shirt and black suit pants. A small arrangement of lavender and peonies are pinned to their lapels.

The bridesmaids- Ginger and Angel- come after them, each clutching bouquets that match the groomsmen’ boutonnière. They’re both dressed in pale pink, knee-length dresses and elbow-length gloves. Cuphead wonders how Angel could have fit the gloves on her fins but chalks it up to Sally’s ingenuity. It looks good, at least.

Speaking of the starlet, Sally follows the bridesmaids, having declared herself as their matron of honor. Neither of the brothers could argue against her, since she was the one helping the “bride” the most, and having her close by during the wedding itself would be more than convenient.

True to her nature, Sally strides in and immediately captures the attention of the room with her natural charm. However, Cuphead notes that she is tamping it down ever so slightly, likely to remain true to her role as the matron of honor, not the bride. Though Sally liked having all eyes on her, her passion for acting would never let her steal the spotlight from where it was meant to be poised.

The music fades when Sally takes her place at the altar, and Ludwig begins to play a new melody. The stars shift colors again, some now glowing a warm pink and flickering in time with the piano. A soft murmur runs across the room, excitement in the air as the guests turn to watch the entrance.

Cuphead swallows, chest suddenly tight. He hasn’t seen Mugman all day, and has no idea what Sally has done to him.

After a few moments, Wolfgang starts to play a low, yet joyful sound of trumpets along with Ludwig. The Barbershop Quartet hum, clouds seeping past the entrance with a figure cradled in their midst.

Muffled gasps and murmurs of delight erupt in the room as Mugman steps through the entrance. Sally had kept her word, and the wedding gown itself is a whole production. The entire dress looks like it’s made out of pure white crystals, catching the starlight and shaping tiny rainbows that reflect on every surface in the room. White amaryllis cover the end of the gown’s train, creating an illusion that every step he took caused flowers to sprout on the ground. Mugman’s shoulders are bared, enticingly delicate, and the ruffles around his chest effectively hide what isn’t there. Cinched in above his waist, the gown has been puffed out with a mountain of tulle underneath to give him hips. It splits into two below his thighs, revealing his legs and the white heels Sally had practically forced him to walk in for three days straight until he could run in it without stumbling. 

Though he’d been told to look breathless when he first saw his “bride”, Cuphead finds himself genuinely lost for words at the sight. 

_Hold me close and hold me fast_

_The magic spell you cast_

_This is “La vie en rose.”_

The Barbershop Quartet begins to sing. Sally had told them to forego the traditional wedding procession music, claiming it’d be trendier to use songs with a special meaning to them. Having little thought for romance, Cuphead had nothing to offer, so Mugman suggested a personal favorite of his instead. Cuphead remembers hearing him hum this song to himself often after they’d first heard Elder Kettle sing it.

He always thought Mugman had a sweet singing voice, though he only got to hear it when his brother would do chores around the house, thinking he was alone. It’d sent a little jolt of happiness in him to watch his brother sweep the floors, singing and swaying under the sunlight streaming from the window. 

Seeing him now, he feels nothing short of unfathomable love.

_When you kiss me, heaven sighs_

_And though I close my eyes_

_I see, “La vie en rose.”_

Halfway down the aisle, the veil around Mugman’s eyes begins to flutter. To everyone’s surprise, it seems to evaporate in the air, revealing thousands of pure white butterflies. Sheer crystal tulle is left in their wake, the butterflies gently lifting and draping the veil behind him to show his face. 

Unable to hide his embarrassment at the dramatic show, soft pink colors Mugman’s cheeks as he shyly lifts his head to face the room. 

_When you press me to your heart_

_I’m in a world apart_

_A world where roses bloom_

Mugman keeps his eyes forward resolutely. Though he’s grateful that their friends are so willing to help them turn this into a fantastic show for Silverworth, he can’t shake the feeling of inadequacy inside him.

Everyone had worked so hard on this wedding, even if it’s all just a ruse, and he doesn’t want to be the one to mess it up. He knows Ms. Sally had been the one to choose him as the bride, but that was just out of convenience. If they had more time, they could have found someone better, a real girl, even. Someone who wouldn’t put all this effort to waste with their twisted feelings and plain face.

He can’t even look at Cuphead. All those days spent practicing their lines and now he just wants to quit. 

Better than to stand there in front of him and let him see how much he wanted this to be real.

Unbidden, he feels tears wet the edge of his eyes. Turning his head to the side, he catches Cagney’s eye and sees the concern that fills his face when he sees him about to cry. Out of everyone he knew, Cagney was the only one that he’d ever told about his feelings. It wasn’t by choice- he’d found Mugman crying in the forest after he first came to terms with his emotions and had needled the story out of him.

Surprisingly, he hadn’t judged him. It had only made them closer now that Mugman had someone to confess too whenever he felt angry, jealous, and frustrated at himself.

Like the words in the song, the white rose bulbs on the rim of his head suddenly bloom under Cagney’s command. 

_And when you speak, angels sing from above_

_Everyday words seem to turn into love songs_

It’s a comfort, a reminder. 

Though the wedding isn’t real, he is doing this out of love.

Mugman knows how his brother feels. Ever since they’d defeated the Devil, he’d drifted away, no longer as clingy as they used to be. He knows his brother is only trying to protect him from himself, but he misses him anyway. He’d never tell, but he longs for what they had during the days they fought with the debtors.

He wants him back at his side, grinning and promising to protect him no matter what they faced. He wants the grave closeness they shared when they healed each other, closer than ever at the constant thought of losing each other.

He just wants to know he’s still as important to Cuphead as he is to him.

_Give your heart and soul to me_

_And life will always be_

_“La vie en rose.”_

The Barbershop Quartet’s voices fade away in time with Mugman’s arrival at the altar. Head down, he still can’t bring himself to face Cuphead, but he knows he has no choice.

At least he’ll be helping his brother if he does this.

Sally takes the bouquet from him and nods her head towards the groom’s side, so Mugman obediently turns to smile at Cuphead, allowing a practiced flush to come over his face. However, he still can’t find the strength to look him in the eye, choosing instead to peer over his shoulder at the rest of the groomsmen.

He stills when he feels Cuphead raise a hand to his cheek, and instinctively meets his eyes.

Cuphead smiles at him, aflush.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmurs, lifting Mugman’s hand to kiss the tips of his fingers, and Mugman’s blush turns redder, truer. 

That line hadn’t been a part of their show.

The pastor, one of Sally’s actors, clears his throat and begins the ceremony. Still, Mugman can only focus on the tingling feeling in his fingers where Cuphead had kissed him. He holds it close to his chest, where he can feel the rapid beating of his own heart. 

Had that been an act? Was Mugman’s performance so awful that his brother felt the need to try and salvage the situation by showing him extra affection in front of Silverworth?

“Please state your vows,” says the pastor, throwing Mugman off his self-destructive path. Of course, this was all scripted too. Sally had controlled every part of their act that she could, and none of them had trusted Cuphead to write his own vows.

“With this hand,” Cuphead lifts his hand, offering it to Mugman. He falters, slow to put his hand in his, but knows the show must go on. At his touch, Cuphead squeezes his hand and leads him closer to the altar, three steps as they’d practiced, “I will lift your sorrows.”

“Your cup will never empty,” Mugman grabs the chalice on the altar and holds it up as Cuphead pours in the wine beside it, “For I will be your wine.”

Mugman sips it, thankful at the sweet taste. 

Next, Cuphead takes a candle from Sally’s husband and lights it with a snap of his finger.

“With this candle, I will light your way in the darkness.”

He sets the candle on the holder next to Mugman. Finally, Hilda sends over a small cloud with two golden rings on it next to them.

Cuphead takes one, and lifts up Mugman’s hand. 

“And with this ring,” he murmurs, sliding the ring on his finger, “I ask you to be mine.”

Again, he kisses the tips of his fingers, something Mugman knows Sally hadn’t asked him to do. Cuphead looks up at him, and even under the weight of all his insecurity, Mugman feels his heart grow lighter at the unabashed devotion he finds in his eyes.

He chokes, too overcome to recite his own vows. As soon as his tears start falling, Mugman feels himself pulled into an embrace, Cuphead’s arms tight and snug around him. He buries his head in his shoulder and shakes, desperately trying to stem the flow of his tears. He hears the crowd murmuring amongst themselves and feels shame crawl up his throat.

“I’m s-sorry,” Mugman whimpers, “I messed up. I’m sorry."

“It’s okay,” he hears Cuphead whisper, “I know. It’s okay.” Cuphead slides a hand down to his waist and holds Mugman’s head against his shoulder, “I love you.”

“Of course you do,” Mugman lets out a half-suppressed laugh.

“I love you,” Cuphead only repeats, his tone even sweeter, “I love you so much, Mugman. When I saw you walk down that aisle, I thought to myself that if I’d have to spend the rest of my life with someone, I’d want it to be you. Even if this wedding is fake, I meant what I said. I want to be the one to make you happy, to fulfill you, to keep you safe. I want you to be mine.”

Mugman clutches the back of Cuphead’s jacket, “You’re lying.”

_“Hold me close and hold me fast,”_ Mugman jolts when he hears him sing and finally looks up. Cuphead grins and holds his cheek, _“The magic spell you cast. This is ‘La vie en rose.’”_

He leans over and presses a kiss under Mugman’s eye, tastes saltwater on his lips from his tears, _“When I kiss you, heaven sighs, and though I close my eyes-”_

_“I see ‘La vie en rose,’”_ breathes Mugman, his voice set to the falsetto tone he’d practiced with Sally. Behind them, Sally gestures at Ludwig and Wolfgang, who start up the melody again, _“When you press me to your heart, I’m in a world apart. A world where roses bloom.”_

_“And when you speak, angels sing from above,”_ Cuphead sings with him, taking a rose from Mugman’s rim and presenting it to him. 

_“Everyday words seem to turn into love songs.”_ He takes it, hiding his tearful smile behind the petals. When Cuphead offers him his hand again, he takes it without any hesitation.

_“Give your heart and soul to me,”_ Cuphead pulls him into a spin and dips him, _“And life will always be…”_

_“La vie en rose.”_

Someone begins to clap, loud and firmly from the pews. They turn to see Silverworth standing up, a satisfied look on his face.

“Well done!” he calls out, “I wasn’t sure how far you were going to take it but this was an excellent performance! A show worthy of an A, nay, even an S-grade rating!”

“Um,” Mugman stands up, glancing over to find Cuphead just as confused as him.

“I admit, I wasn’t expecting you to go through with the wedding. After all, you do have a certain reputation, Mr. Coffeepot,” Silverworth raises an eyebrow at Cuphead, “So I was surprised when I heard I would have an actual ceremony to attend today. Now I don’t know how you managed to pull this off, but everything has been magnificent. This heartwarming performance with your fine dish of a co-star? The icing on top of the cake! Splendid production, you two. Absolutely amazing!”

“A real pip!” Spoon lady agrees next to him, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

“Ahem! I do believe we all know who to thank for that!” Sally steps forward, her chest puffed out in pride. Her husband starts a round of applause, prompting the rest of the room to follow him when they realize the act is over.

“Ah, of course. When I saw you standing there Ms. Stageplay, I knew this was going to be an experience. Of course, had I been disappointed with the event, I would have taken my money back from you, with interest for the attempted con,” Cuphead pulls at the edge of his collar, which seems to have tightened up, “But after seeing this? I couldn’t have paid for better entertainment.”

“Are we still going to have a reception?” Goopy calls out from the pews. 

Cuphead and Mugman look at each other. Mugman shrugs, still shaky from the rollercoaster of emotions they’d just been treated to, so Cuphead simply replies, “Why not? Everyone worked hard on that food. Let’s go enjoy it!”

The crowd cheers, and Hilda stands up to lead everyone back out of the castle. As the guests start to trickle away, Sally slaps their backs and grins widely at them.

“Hoopty-do! We did it, boys!” she cheers, “That was the best example of ad-lib I’ve ever seen in my life! I don’t know why you two hid such talent from me all this time. Even I felt myself about to cry when you started to sing. Where did you learn to do that?”

“Oh, our grandpa is a big music fan. He sings a lot in the house, and I guess we both just picked up the habit,” Mugman replies.

“I see talent runs in the family then. Well, consider yourselves on my possible understudy list from now on! It’s a short list too, so take pride!”

“Thanks for all your help, Ms. Sally. We couldn’t have done this without you.” Cuphead answers sincerely. Mugman takes the rest of the roses from his head and presents it to her.

Sally takes it with a smile and rubs each of their heads affectionately, “It was a pleasure to work with you. Now let’s go enjoy our after party!”

She skips out of the castle, leaving the two of them alone. 

With no one else to watch them, Cuphead calls Mugman’s attention to him, “Hey.”

Mugman looks over, “Hm?” 

“I didn’t get to kiss my bride.”

Cuphead leans over and cups his face, capturing his lips in an intimate kiss. Mugman gasps, hands going up to clutch his shoulders when he feels Cuphead swipe his tongue over his bottom lip and pull away. 

He smiles and holds Mugman close by his waist.

“God, I hope Ms. Sally doesn’t ask you to give that dress back.”

**Author's Note:**

> • At the reception, the Root Pack presents everyone with a single pea on their plate as the appetizer. They thought that’s what high society is into these days.
> 
> • I actually forgot where I got “Coffeepot” from as their surname. I think I read about their designs being based on a character with a similar name so I used that for the story.
> 
> • Since there’s no Barbershop Quartet version of “La Vie en Rose”, please choose your favorite instead. I personally used Louis Armstrong’s + Michael Bublé and Cécile Salvant’s versions for inspiration.
> 
> • Yes, those first vows were stolen straight from Corpse Bride. Emily is best girl and should’ve gotten Victor at the end, fight me.
> 
> • As Cagney says in the story, magnolias mean “nobility and dignity.” Peonies can mean both a “happy marriage” and “bashfulness”. Lavender means “devotion” and “silence”. White roses mean “young love” and “eternal loyalty”. He was straight up trying to tell Cuphead about Mugman’s feelings.
> 
> • And finally, the amaryllis flowers on the end of the dress represent “splendid beauty”. All of them are bridal flowers.
> 
> • I was gonna illustrate this, but I figured whatever you guys imagine is going to be better than what I draw.


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